J.E.H. MacDonald

"'It is the work of the Canadian artist to paint or play or write in such a way that life will be enlarged for himself and his fellow man. The painter will look around him . . . and finding everything good, will strive to communicate that feeling through a portrayal of the essentials of sunlight, or snow, or tree or tragic cloud, or human face, according to his power and individuality.'
(J.E.H. MacDonald, 1917)

The painter J.E.H. (James Edward Hervey) MacDonald, a founding member of the Group of Seven, responded to the Canadian landscape with a sensitivity honed by his interest in the American writers Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. One of Canada's leading graphic designers and a popular art teacher, MacDonald was also a poet and calligrapher. His design work was strongly influenced by Arts and Crafts designers in England and Canada, especially William Morris." http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artist.php?iartistid=3428

"...born on May 12, 1873 in Durham England. He emigrated to Canada as a teen with his English mother and Canadian father when he was only 14. Once he completed his studies of art in both Hamilton and Toronto he began to work at Grip Limited from 1895 to 1911 along with other members of the Group of Seven.
When MacDonald was 26 he married Joan Lavis, a student at McMaster University; the 2 had a son named Thoreau in 1901. During this time he became Art Director at Grip, and supervised many fellow artists including Johnston, Thomson, Lismer and Carmichael. MacDonald enjoyed sketching, becoming a member of many sketching clubs in Toronto and taking many sketching trips along with others from Grip. ...
...In 1917 MacDonald took some time off his painting to pursue poetry; this change was probably due to the death of his friend Tom Thomson. A volume of MacDonalds poems, entitled ‘West by East’ was published after his death... " http://oseculoprodigioso.blogspot.nl